Our Expertise / Our Finance expertise / Get visibility on your financial performance / Financial closing
Restoring control and clarity
Master your financial closing: accurate, timely and smooth
Financial closing, as an annual legal requirement, can sometimes feel like a routine, causing businesses to lose sight of its broader utility as a decision-making tool. When faced with frequent closing deadlines, it can also become a struggle, especially if not properly managed.
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Common challenges of financial closing:
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Time pressure: deadlines of financial closings are often non negotiable, whatever the staffing difficulties you might have
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Chaotic processes: if the processes are not clear or optimised, the exercise can quickly become a struggle
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Mistakes and inaccuracies: lack of time and choas often lead to mistakes and frustrations.
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When financial closing looses its purpose
While financial closing is often seen as a compliance-driven obligation, it should be much more than just ticking a box. A well-executed closing process provides valuable insights that help businesses steer their financial strategy effectively.
Beyond fulfilling regulatory requirements, financial closing should serve as a decision-making tool—offering timely and reliable financial data that supports internal stakeholders, enhances forecasting accuracy, and reassures investors. When financial closing is merely a rushed reporting task, companies miss out on strategic opportunities to analyze performance, optimize resources, and drive long-term growth.
Towards smooth, accurate and timely financial closing:
This is where Altesia steps in, bringing expertise and rigour to the process. We aim to restore meaning and order to financial closing by:
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Focusing on its objective: who it is for, why it is necessary, and how often it truly needs to be done.
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Implementing structured systems for documentation and procedures.
We understand that an effective closing process can anticipate business needs, optimise financial reporting, and reassure investors.
The objective: To give you back control over financial closing and a clear view of their finances, both from a high-level perspective and in detail.
Financial closing: your needs
Handling unexpected changes
Meeting financial closing deadlines
Accompanying business growth
When a key employee leaves or is absent, it can create an environment of chaos. Without proper documentation, the sudden absence of their knowledge can hinder the financial closing process.
Struggling to meet financial closing deadlines is common, especially with interim closings, like quarterly reports for investors. This often stems from a lack of established procedures.
Start-ups and rapidly growing SMEs can find their financial structures unprepared for expansion. When a one-man show must scale, the absence of procedure for financial closing leads to a chaotic environment.
Reassuring investors whilst maintaining agility
Large or innovative tech companies, such as those in biotech, medtech, and greentech, require robust financial closing processes to sustain investor confidence. Smaller companies, on the other hand, may benefit from more agility and less frequent reporting.
"Regardless of size, all companies need an appropriate level of reporting tailored to meet the specific demands of stakeholders, while avoiding excessive documentation to maintain agility."
How we help you regain control of your financial closing process
Altesia's consultants are bilingual: they speak both accounting and business languages.
This capability allows them to turn all financial procedures, including financial closing, into operations that serve the business effectively.
Our mission begins by conducting a thorough analysis of the client's specific needs for financial closing, as well as the existing procedures and tools. We focus on the objectives of the financial closing—why and for whom it's done.
With rigorous attention to detail, pragmatic solutions, and a critical perspective on the company's unique needs, here is what you can expect from Altesia's finance consultants:
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Rigour and precision:
Higher accuracy and discipline in financial closing, leading to better business decisions.
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Faster closing times:
Accelerated closing processes improve efficiency and professionalism, boosting the company's image and investor confidence.
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Process implementation and optimisation:
Processes are optimised for accurate documentation, reducing stress and promoting smoother daily operations.
The result
We tailor our deliverables to meet each client's specific needs. Some of the concrete outcomes we can provide include:
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Annual closing:
Presentation of the accounts to the General Shareholders Assembly and formal submission to the Belgian National Bank (BNB), as legal requirement.
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Quarterly closings:
Altesia can assist with quarterly financial closings, advising on the best approach, like partial closings to inform and reassure investors about the company's financial status.
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Checklists and written procedures
explaining how things were implemented; this includes items such as reconciling accounts, verifying inventory, etc. It serves as a guide and a handy reference for accountants.
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ERP implementation:
If needed, Altesia can support the implementation of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system to meet financial closing requirements.
" Thanks to Altesia's approach, we managed to reduce our quarterly closing time from three months to one month or less. The game-changing move was Altesia's identification of the crucial elements allowing faster intermediate closings, which are vital for informing and reassuring Board members and external partners. We realized that certain details were only critical for the final annual closing, rendering them unnecessary for the interim stage. This insight had a significant impact on our operations. By focusing on the essential elements for financial closing, Altesia helped us improve efficiency and meet our objectives, allowing us to move forward with more confidence."
CEO in the healthcare sector
What we don't do
Our approach to financial closing is based on precision, efficiency, and ethical practices. Here is what we don’t do:
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No unnecessary complications:
We don't add complexity where it's not needed. Our goal is to simplify and clarify the financial closing process for you. -
No routine work:
Altesia does not engage in routine and copy-paste practices without a critical perspective. We constantly evaluate to optimise and improve the financial procedures implemented by the finance department. -
No unnecessary consultancy hours:
We do not sell unnecessary consultancy hours for non-essential operations. Our pragmatic approach means we only advise on processes that meet your specific financial closing objectives.
Discover how to get visibility on your financial performance
Ongoing financial operations need to follow a certain pace and meet clear deadlines. With the right processes, tools and people, you will gain visibility into your financial performance, and get efficiency to free up time for strategic projects.